speed mentoring - 11 entrepreneurs in 100 minutes!
I had the privilege today of participating in the Inner City Entrepreneurs Private Sector Speed Networking Event.
From the email invitation:
The speed networking event is an opportunity for the entrepreneurs in the Westford “Streetwise MBA’™ program to begin building relationships with members of I.C.E.’s PSN. The entrepreneurs will spend ten minutes with each participating PSN member as a way to gain a better understanding of the type and range of expertise available through the PSN.
During each ten minute interval, the entrepreneur will describe his/her business and discuss current challenges they are facing with their business. Each PSN member will give a quick overview of their expertise, and based on what they hear from the entrepreneur, will indicate how they might be able to aid with the entrepreneur’s growth.
I was actually scheduled to see 10 entrepreneurs and 10 companies for 10 minutes each, but in true Spinal Tap fashion, one company had two founders there - a husband and wife team - which got the number up to 11.
It was actually one of the most interesting and challenging events in my checkered entrepreneurial history as the variety of the companies was staggering, ranging from a book publishing company and design firm which were both in my comfort zone, to a firm doing sheet metal fabrication, an insurance agency, an IT security company to a custom clothing, medieval attire fantasy and wedding war firm (unfortunately the founder did not come in costume!)
My goal was to elicit the entrepreneurs top two or three problems and see if I might have any resources to bear on any of their problems or any advice worth giving in such a short amount of time.
No surprise, the number 1 problem of almost every company was customer acquisition - even companies that had been in business for years! The economy has also taken a toll on these small businesses as many of their customers have reduced or even stopped ordering from them.
I'd recommend this type of exercise to any organization that is trying to match up mentors and mentees as a great way for the two groups to get to know each other, very quickly, efficiently and in a fun way.
The one piece of advice I gave to several of the companies which they seem to find useful was to study their customer acquisition history before embarking on any new sales or marketing program. One entrepreneur who had lost of several bids recently really resonated with the suggestion going back to the prospective customers and trying to find out what they could have done better or differently to win the business.
